JFKNew York JFK
How long is the TSA security line at JFK right now?
At 5:10 pm Eastern JFK standard lines run 12 to 33 min. The longest standard line is Terminal 8, 33 min. Terminal 1 and Terminal 5 are moving at 12 min.
Wait time by checkpoint
| Checkpoint | Standard | PreCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | ||
| Terminal 1 | 12min | 5min |
| Terminal 4 | ||
| Terminal 4 | 17min | 10min |
| Terminal 5 | ||
| Terminal 5 | 12min | 7min |
| Terminal 7 | ||
| Terminal 7 | 21min | closed |
| Terminal 8 | ||
| Terminal 8 | 33min | 6min |
Read from jfkairport.com at 7 minutes ago, next read in 2
How busy JFK security usually is
People screened per hour at each checkpoint, averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Green is that checkpoint's quiet hours, red its peak. Find your checkpoint and look along the row for green.
| Checkpoint | 4a | 6a | 8a | 10a | 12p | 2p | 4p | 5 pm, now | 6p | 8p | 10p | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 4 Delta 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 4 FIS CP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 4 Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terminal 8 |
Tap a cell for its count.
Quiet for this checkpointIts busiest hourclosed or no count
On the counted days JFK screened passengers in every hour of the day. Across JFK the busiest hour is 5 pm and the counts fall away after 8 pm. Terminal 4 Main and Terminal 5 screen 58 percent of the people TSA counts at JFK, Terminal 4 Main alone 36 percent. Most checkpoints peak from noon on; Terminal 4 Main runs the other way at 6 am, Terminal 5 at 7 am and Terminal 7 at 11 am. TSA counts people, not minutes, so this shows when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long you will stand in it.
Which day JFK is busiest
Thursday is JFK's busiest day of the week, about 97,000 people screened on an average one, 17 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest.
| Rank | Day | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday | 96,610 | 23 |
| 2 | Friday | 94,588 | 23 |
| 3 | Sunday | 93,607 | 23 |
| 4 | Monday | 90,550 | 23 |
| 5 | Wednesday | 87,724 | 25 |
| 6 | Saturday | 87,478 | 23 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 82,429 | 23 |
People screened at JFK on an average day of each kind, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month JFK is busiest
July was JFK's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 103,000 people a day, 21 percent more than April, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 16 percent below July.
| Rank | Month | People a day | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July | 102,638 | 13 |
| 2 | August | 98,926 | 31 |
| 3 | June | 91,623 | 13 |
| 4 | May | 90,564 | 31 |
| 5 | March | 86,945 | 10 |
| 6 | October | 86,492 | 17 |
| 7 | September | 85,790 | 30 |
| 8 | April | 85,175 | 30 |
People screened at JFK on an average day of each month, holidays included, from TSA's counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How JFK ran over the holidays
Each day around a holiday against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side, so the season does not read as the holiday. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Memorial Day 2026
Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Thursday 21 May, 109,643 people, 15 percent above the Thursdays around it.
Labor Day 2026
Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Friday 4 September, 99,177 people, 5 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 15 percent below the Sundays around it.
Questions people ask
How busy is JFK airport today?
At 5:10 pm Eastern JFK standard lines run 12 to 33 min. The longest standard line is Terminal 8, 33 min. By TSA's counts 5 pm is usually one of the busiest hours at JFK, about 6,000 people an hour across its checkpoints against 6,000 at the 5 pm peak. On a normal day JFK screens about 91,000 people, 3rd of the 432 airports TSA counts; its largest checkpoint is Terminal 4 Main, with 36 percent of them.
Does PreCheck have a shorter line at JFK?
Right now PreCheck lanes at JFK read 5 to 10 min. Standard lanes read 12 to 33 min. PreCheck is open at Terminal 1, Terminal 4, Terminal 5 and Terminal 8; check the sign above before walking to one.
Which JFK checkpoint is fastest right now?
At 5:10 pm Eastern the shortest standard line is at Terminal 1 and Terminal 5, 12 min. The sign above lists every checkpoint and lane the airport publishes, longest and shortest alike.
How long is the TSA line at each JFK terminal?
At 5:10 pm Eastern the standard wait is 12 min at Terminal 1, 17 min at Terminal 4, 12 min at Terminal 5, 21 min at Terminal 7 and 33 min at Terminal 8. The sign above lists each terminal on its own, with every checkpoint it has and its PreCheck lane.
How current is this number?
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey publishes the JFK wait times at jfkairport.com and waittimes.io reads them every 10 minutes. The time on the sign is the last read, in Eastern time. A number older than 30 minutes says so, and a feed silent for 2 hours shows when it last published instead of a number. Nothing here is predicted.
When is TSA security at JFK quietest?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, JFK checkpoints screened the most people at 5 pm. Between the rushes the counts are lowest at 11 am, and they fall away after 8 pm. Each row of the map above is one checkpoint scaled to its own peak, so its green hours are the ones to aim for. Counts say when a checkpoint is loaded, not how long the line is.
What time does TSA open at JFK?
Over the 175 counted days, 22 March to 24 October 2026, JFK screened passengers in every hour of the day. These are the hours TSA counted people, not JFK's published checkpoint hours. Check the airport's own page before an early flight.
What is the busiest day of the week at JFK?
Thursday is JFK's busiest day of the week, about 97,000 people screened on an average one, 17 percent more than Tuesday, the quietest. Averaged over 163 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026, with the days around each holiday left out.
Which month is busiest at JFK?
July was JFK's busiest month in TSA's counts, about 103,000 people a day, 21 percent more than April, the quietest. October, the latest month counted, ran 16 percent below July. Averaged over 175 days of TSA counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. March, June, July, and October rest on 10, 13, 13, and 17 counted days.
How busy does JFK get on a holiday weekend?
Memorial Day 2026, Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 May: the busiest day was Thursday 21 May, 109,643 people, 15 percent above the Thursdays around it. Labor Day 2026, Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 September: the busiest day was Friday 4 September, 99,177 people, 5 percent above the Fridays around it. Sunday 6 September was the lightest for its day of the week, 15 percent below the Sundays around it. Each day is set against the same day of the week in the three weeks either side. Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 are not in TSA's counts yet; they run to 24 October 2026.
Other airports
Every covered airport, ranked by its line right now, is on the national page, with the airports that have no live number here under it. The busiest airports by people screened lists every code TSA counts.
ATL, BOS, BWI, CLE, CLT, DAL, DCA, DFW, DTW, EWR, IAH, JAX, LGA, MCO, MIA, MSP, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA, SFO, SLC
Where the numbers come from
- Wait times
- Published by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at jfkairport.com. We read the page every 10 minutes and show the time of the last read. A reading older than 30 minutes is marked as such.
- Usual busyness
- TSA's own hourly passenger counts per checkpoint, published weekly in its FOIA reading room. This page uses 175 days of counts, 22 March to 24 October 2026. Public domain.
- Who reads them
- Arcane Digital, which runs waittimes.io, reads every feed every 10 minutes with its own collector and stores the time of each read. The day's reads are checked every night for a feed that has stopped or thinned, and one person reads that report the next morning. Nobody types a number in.
- What we never do
- Predict a wait in minutes, or show an old number as if it were current.
- Every feed
- How each one is read, the TSA counts and who to write to: the sources page.